Dallas, TX
Feds Give $5.8 Million for New Dallas Parks, Community Centers
The federal government is sending nearly $10.5 million to North Texas and over half of the dollars are allocated for projects in Dallas.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, announced Wednesday that a House appropriations bill would provide funding for 11 projects in District 30, which includes southern and west Dallas, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, DeSoto, and Lancaster.
Six Dallas projects received a cumulative $5.8 million, which Crockett described as being “truly transformational” for their communities. Those include rehabilitating the aging Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in South Dallas; a new resource center to serve the Bonton neighborhood, which will be operated by Bonton Farms; new parks in South Oak Cliff and at Fair Park; money to redevelop a YMCA; and a center at UNT Dallas for attorneys to provide free legal aid to residents.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center received $2.5 million in federal funding. In documentation provided with the earmark request, the city outlines plans to improve the center, which serves more than 300,000 Dallas residents annually across its five-building campus. The center acts as a community hub and event space, as well as polling place.
The existing facility opened in 1969 and has evolved to be the access point for residents to get affordable healthcare, library services, child care, rental assistance, home repairs, and more. It’s also the office space for several community organizations, such as the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce, the Dallas Civil Rights Museum, and Miles of Freedom.
The federal money will go toward an overhaul of the interior of the main building by improving accessibility and adding a teaching kitchen, an enhanced computer lab, more storage, and restaurant infrastructure. It will also reconfigure conference and meeting spaces to provide more flexibility. The city wants to expand an existing facility or build a new one to provide clinic facilities for mental health and WIC services.
“The Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center is the heart of the Fair Park community, providing all ages recreational and cultural amenities, critical nutrition, housing, and childcare services, and space for civic and nonprofit organizations,” the city explained in its appropriations requisition. “We all love the MLK Community Center, but that love has put a lot of wear and tear on the facility.”
Just down the street, a new 18-acre community park received $850,000. Fair Park First, the nonprofit tasked with restoring and revitalizing the 277-acre Fair Park fairgrounds where the park will sit, will oversee construction of a new community park on top of what is presently a parking lot.
“We could not be more thankful to Congresswoman Crockett for supporting the community and the development of the Community Park at Fair Park,” Fair Park First CEO Brian Luallen said. “This investment will continue to fund the park, and provide 15-minute walking access for 13 surrounding neighborhoods in the district.”
Last September, Luallen told the city’s Park and Recreation Board that about $22.5 million of the $67 million needed to build the park had been raised so far, or roughly 34 percent. He said the park would break ground when the project raises 50 percent of its goal.
This week, the Park and Recreation Board approved an application seeking another $10 million from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Grant program for the park’s second phase.
Bonton Farms will receive $600,000 towards its 2,000-square-foot Bexar Street resource center. Gabe Madison, the organization’s CEO, says that the new center will support Bonton residents and apprentices in the program’s new workforce development program. Bonton Farms has been working with the Texas Irish Foundation and other local organizations to complete the center.
“The new facility will be home to the only one-on-one counseling rooms in South Dallas, farm staff break room, bathrooms, office space, and entrepreneurial workspaces for our ‘Bontonpreneurs’ like the much beloved Kerry’s Bike Shop,” Madison said. “Kerry, a local entrepreneur, has been trained by Bike Friendly South Dallas to repair and rebuild bikes and will open a new business to provide bicycles to adults and children in our neighborhood.”
Judge Charles R. Rose Community Park, located in southern Dallas’ Highland Hills neighborhood, will also benefit from federal funds. Crockett said the Trust for Public Land will receive $500,000 to move the park forward. TPL state director Robert Kent said the park is part of the 17-mile Five Mile Creek Greenbelt trail project. (The entire Five Mile Greenbelt project will include three new parks and stretch east from near the Westmoreland DART station and into the Trinity Forest through South Oak Cliff.)
“This funding will help realize the Highland Hills community’s vision for their new park while creating opportunities for improved health, recreation, and neighborhood gatherings,” Kent said.
The University of North Texas at Dallas’ College of Law received $500,000 for its Community Lawyering Center, which provides free legal services to qualifying residents. The Park South Family YMCA will also get $850,0000 toward its ongoing renovation.
Projects in Lancaster, Grand Prairie, DeSoto, and Cedar Hill also received funding in this bill.
The money comes from the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act, the first fiscal year package of appropriations that funds community projects in several sectors, including agriculture, transportation, housing, commerce, justice, and science. It aligns with a top line agreement struck between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Mike Johnson in January.
The bill passed out of the House Wednesday afternoon, and Schumer indicated Wednesday that the Senate will pass it before midnight on Friday. President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law by the end of the week.
“These projects represent a foundational investment in the food security, infrastructure, and development of the under-resourced communities of TX-30, and I look forward to building on these investments for years to come,” Crockett said in a statement.
Author
Bethany Erickson
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Bethany Erickson is the senior digital editor for D Magazine. She’s written about real estate, education policy, the stock market, and crime throughout her career, and sometimes all at the same time. She hates lima beans and 5 a.m. and takes SAT practice tests for fun.
Dallas, TX
New video of Lake Dallas explosion draws focus on order decades ago to remove old plastic pipes
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
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